Adventures in Animal Crossing
by OffTheWall
Summary: A boy moves to a new town, and can't help but think of the life he left behind. Sorry that the second chapter took so long, but I hope you like it anyway!
1. Introduction

Disclaimer: Animal Crossing = owned by Nintendo. My original character, based on myself = owned by me. Everyone understand? Good.

"Thank you for choosing Crossing National Railway," came the all-too-friendly voice over the intercom, "We remind you that this is a non-smoking trip and ask that you remain seated as much as possible. Thank you."

At that, a young man, about 18 years old, shifted uncomfortably in his seat. _I was having such a nice nap._ The train had recently stopped for passengers, but he had boarded several hours earlier. _Only ten more minutes, _he said to himself, glancing at his watch as the train chugged along.

It's only inherent that when you go to a new place, you think often of what you left behind. Not just what, but who.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You're leaving?" she cried.

"Yeah," he responded.

"Why so sudden?"

"I dunno. We've had some family problems. Besides, I want to get out and see more of the world."

"Which is why you're moving to The Crossing?"

"I guess so."

"Where there's all those talking animals?"

"Um, yeah."

*giggle*

"What's so funny?"

"Oh, nothing."

"You haven't seen the world until you've been to The Crossing."

"Now you're starting to sound like a commercial."

"Final boarding call for the 11:00 train to The Crossing," came a voice.

"I have to go."

"Goodbye. I know I'll see you again someday."

"So do I. Until then, farewell!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~End Flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

His thoughts were broken by the sound of a cabin door being slammed shut. A large cat had just entered. This didn't surprise him. As the train went further into The Crossing, more animals were boarding. What unnerved him, however, was that the cat seemed to be heading for him. This was proved true, as he sat down in the seat opposite him.

"Hi! My name's Rover," said the cat, "I hope you don't mind me sitting here. All the others are taken."

"Oh no problem." _Might as well make a good first impression. For all I know, this guy could be the mayor or something._ "My name's James."

"Hello, James!" said Rover, rather enthusiastically, "So, where are you headed?"

"A small town called Chilliwack."

"Chilliwa? I've heard of that place."

"No! Not Chilliwa," said James, "Chilliwack!"

"That's what I said, Chilliwa!"

__

Hmm, thought James, _he can't seem to understand ten-letter names. I'll have to compromise._ "Never mind that, Rover, I'm moving to Chilliwk."

"Chilliwk?"

"Uh-huh."

"Well why didn't you say so? I've got a buddy who runs a store there. He also sells houses as a side business. Do you need a house?"

"Well, now that you mention it, I-"

"Great!" interrupted Rover, "I'll go give him a call."

And with that, Rover got up, went over to the door, stepped onto the small platform between cars, pulled out his cell phone, dialed a number, and began to talk. After a while he came back into the cabin and sat down.

"Good news: my buddy's got some brand new houses for sale!" he said.

"Oh, um, great," said James, "What's his name, anyway?

"His name? Tom Nook."

"I'll keep an eye out for him, then,

"Attention passengers," came the voice again, "We are now arriving at the Chilliwk train station. Please remain seated until the train has come to a complete stop. Thank you."

"Well," said Rover, "I guess this is it, then. See you some other time, I guess."

"Bye," said James, as he got up and left the train.

__

Whoa, he was scary. Well, I'm off the train now. Where's that Tom Nook guy?

"Hello, are you James?"

"Yes."

"My name is Tom Nook. It's great to meet you!"

__

Oh no…

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Well, what did you think? Not bad for my first fanfiction. Please review; I accept criticism, as long as it's constructive. As for the girl in the flashback, well, my friends Parris and Stephen might know where I got the inspiration.


	2. For Every Goodbye There's a Thousand Hel...

Hi there! Sorry the chapter took so long. I've been a little busy lately.

Adventures in Animal Crossing

Chapter 2: For every goodbye there's a thousand hellos.

James looked at the creature who stood in front of him. Tom Nook was a raccoon. A rather tall raccoon, but a raccoon nonetheless. Nook's head was in proportion to the rest of his body, as opposed to being freakishly huge like Rover's. James' head was a little largish, but he ignored that fact for the time being.

"So," asked Nook, "you need a house, correct?"

"Yes, but I-"

"Good, good," he interrupted, "Come along now, there are four brand-new houses not far from here for you to look at. There quite nice." Under his breath, he added, "A little, cozy, though."

They walked a short distance and arrived at a group of four houses.

"Take your pick, James; they're all lovely houses."

"That one," said James, "The red one on the right."

"That was fast."

"I like the color red," said James, "Besides, I'm sure they're all the same inside." He looked inside the red-roofed house. 

"Hey! It's a home entertainment system!"

"Um, that's a tape deck," said Nook.

"That's entertainment to me!"

"Very well," said Nook, "Now, to my mo- I mean, least favourite part: the bill."

"Uh oh," said James.

"Hmm? Are you a little… short?"

"Well, um, that depends on how much I need to not be short."

"20,000 Bells."

"WHAT? I can't afford that much!"

"Well," replied Nook, "To be honest, that was just the rounded off estimate. The actual cost is… 19,800 Bells."

At that point in the conversation, there was a long, awkward pause. 

James broke it by saying: "Wow, that put it all in perspective for me. Anyway, all I have is 1000 Bells, so I guess we're both out of luck. See ya!"

"Not so fast, young fella," said Nook, "I think we might be able to work something out."

"Such as…?" asked James, with a clearly nervous tone in his voice.

"Well, you could work part-time at my shop."

"Noooooooooooooo!!!!!! Spare me the agony!"

"Oh, cheer up. It's not so bad. You get to wear this neat uniform."

Nook handed him the clothes.

"So," asked James, rather reluctantly, "when do I start?"

"Well, I suppose, since you just moved here, you should go meet some of the townspeople first. Come see me in Acre A-5 in half an hour, and don't forget your uniform!"

James left, and started to wander around rather aimlessly, seeing as he didn't know where anything was. However, before long he ran into another cat, again with the rather large head, although this one was slightly purple-ish in color.

"Hi there," said the cat, "My name's Bob. Do you have any food?"

"No, I just moved in. But there's a cherry tree right next to you."

"Oh yeah, that's right. I keep forgetting. I'm kind of a space case. So, what's your name?"

"My name's James. I'm new in town. It's great to meet someone nice."

"Yeah," said Bob, "Friends are cool"

"I'll say."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Class, we have a new student today. Her name's…"

__

Wow, she's pretty. But she'd never go out with me. Oops, I missed her name. Oh well.

"Now, if you would turn in your textbooks to page 179, we can pick up on…"

Later, at lunchtime…

"You're the new girl, right"

"Yeah. Actually, I'm kinda having trouble finding my way. This school is like a labyrinth."

"I know what you mean. Here, I'll show you around."

"Thanks."

"No problem. Say, what was your name again?"

"My name? It's…"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~End Flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Well, it was nice meeting you, Bob. I've got a few things I need to do. I'll stop by some other time."

"See you later!"

Well, I hope you liked that chapter. I know it's a bit long, so I'll try to make the next one shorter(and sooner).


End file.
